That was it.
The last box was now unpacked and folded away in storage. Jael had officially finished moving in. The nine-teen year old dusted her hands and smiled with her teeth as she surveyed the one room studio that was completely hers.
"Finally, I was beginning to think you stayed packed so you could soon leave again," Jael swirled towards the open front door that led to hallway and the other studio rooms in the building. Her neighbour, Faramund; an averagely proportioned man with grey streaking his black hair and a long beard that reminded her of her High School Science teacher, had his hands behind his back as he stood upright in the doorway. She stuck her nose in the air, "I don't know what you mean, I've never felt more planted in my life."
"Yes like an Oak." A humph.
"I like it here and I'm staying here. It may have taken me longer to settle than most-"
"Three months longer."
"But.." she retorted with a raised eyebrow, "But I'm certain it's home now… for now. Thanks for helping me make it that way." The wooden floors of the room creaked as Faramund stomped one then two brown boots into the threshold, mud splattering slightly, and leaned his belly forward with a grin. "My pleasure my dear, now clean yourself up in time for dinner, this time I'm making it at mine and it's a surprise." Jael bounced a copper curl from her shoulder and tapped her chin, "Oooh I wonder I wonder what, any hints?"
"Absolutely not, but you can be certain whatever it is that it'll be more sustaining than one of your two-minute-noodle packets of abomination." On that note she laughed so hard and loud that the man waved her off and turned in the direction of his own studio as she gripped her stomach. "Seven 'o' clock missy, don't be late. We live next to each other so there are no excuses!" The girl was still containing her laughter as she heard Faramund's door shut with a thud. When Jael moved out of her foster home earlier this summer she hadn't expected to find such a lovely community here in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta, in a studio apartment building, but life was full of surprises for her. She shook off her giggles as she walked towards her one small bedroom which had a thirty-dollar rack she bought to hang some clothes on, and a succulent on the white set of drawers next to her mattress. Jael changed from her old paint covered jeans and singlet, reserved specifically for when she was going to get dirty, into her favourite white oversized t-shirt dress adorned with a red dragon on the back and her favourite bed socks, the ones with whales on them, glancing back and forth at the picture she had blue-tacked right next to her one window. It was a page out of a book she found in Parramatta library, the librarian there hated her anyway, so she had no regrets in ripping it out.
The page displayed a collage of pictures, all of China. A bunch of Temples, some mountains, rivers, old palaces, the Great Wall, Food Markets, and dancers. It held everything she was working towards. Her infatuation with the place began in childhood, when she found a Chinese storybook in her school library during recess one day, and never looked back. The place seemed to be full of wonders, romance and magical historical tales. So that was where she would go... when she had the money. She had only just managed to pull off renting this place, a plane ticket, that was a whole other story. But still, Jael patted over to the picture once she changed, and pressed her face close to it, lightly placing her hand on the cement wall.
"I'll see all of you one day, I know it. There is nothing in this world that can stop me, Jael Doran, from getting to you, my beautiful country of adventures. Maybe it was a child's dream, maybe she was being unrealistic about the whole idea of going to another country alone, and at her age, but she didn't see it that way. After she had finished thinking of all the places she wanted to go Jael fixed herself a cup of milo in that tiny kitchen of hers and slid around the wooden floors in her fluffy whale socks. With still an hour until her dinner date with Faramund, she decided to set herself up on floor in the middle of her room and message her boss back about working weekends. With China in mind she would need all the shifts she could get.
When she graduated High School in 2018 Jael disregarded any thoughts of university simply for the reason that, she couldn't afford it, all those textbooks, extra travel fares and such. So instead she started working three local jobs and saved up enough to get her this place in one year. She was proud of herself to say the least, but she knew she didn't want to be here forever. It was very much a 'for now' kind of place, and yet it was already starting to grow on her in ways she didn't know existed, nor could she recognise truly. The thought of this made her smile and remember her conversation with Faramund from just moments ago, she hadn't laughed quite like that for a while, she still laughed, but not like that. This place really was finding it's place in her heart. After reminiscing she pulled out her phone and opened her conversation with Mel, her boss from the plant store down the road, and started typing.
***
Well, with five minutes to seven Jael had really managed to negotiate with two of her bosses about increasing her shifts, do some yoga stretching in the dying sunlight of her open balcony, and finish her whole mug of milo, her feet were warm, and she was so ready to go and rug up at Faramund's.
The narrow hallway with dim yellow lights echoed lightly at the sound of her knuckles tapping on Faramund's door, and Jael nodded hello to one of the junkies who had come out of his room to take his rubbish out. Gosh, she hadn't seen him in three weeks, it looked like he would keep to himself but if he didn't respond to her asking him to please stop having drug parties because it fills the hallway with smoke, and we have elderly here than she woul-
"Look at you, four minutes to seven," Jael nudged her way past Faramund's broad-ish shoulders and walked right over to her recently claimed spot next to his heater. "I really don't know what we're going to do with him Faramund, he won't listen to anything I'm saying and he still creates such bad air in here and it can be so dangerous for you old guys you know, your lungs are already weak and he'll just make it worse I'm honestly so close to messaging the tenant about it but I don't want to put him out at the same time!" Jael completely flailed onto the king armchair that slightly looked like it once sat some especially important guests and let out a huge wail that would have reached the hallway, if Faramund hadn't have slammed his door shut once the girl was inside. "You old guys! You mean to consider me old? Goodness now I don't know whether or not I want to serve you my dinner, surely these old hands of mine aren't able to produce anything fine enough for you to eat. I should think once a man gets a grey hair on his head that he's done for! Goneskies! No longer eligible to know what's good for him and what isn't!" The two rivalled each other in their talent for the dramatics.
"That's sooo not what I was saying, and you know it, and um," Jael scrunched her nose upwards, "whatever it is that you've concocted up tonight smells heavenly Faramund what is it, can we eat now?" The man stood in his kitchen arch, so similar to her own but with years of living in it, covered in candles like the rest of his studio and decorated with a colourful rug and random little ornaments and figurines that he had collected from goodness knows where. He made a humph sound again and ruffled his beard before picking up two bowls from his bench and strutting over to her. When he got closer he paused and blinked a moment, "Is that really what you're wearing tonight?" Jael looked herself up and down as she curled up on the armchair, "What? This is my favourite t-shirt, and you've seen me in it before! Besides it's not like I'm going anywhere tonight, except the places of my imagination." She laughed but Faramund's face twitched slightly before he grunted again and passed Jael her plate. Her nose filled with an aroma of garlic, tomato, and parmesan as she squealed in delight at the amount of fettucine pasta in her bowl. "Your favourite. You're welcome."
"Yes! Aww, see I knew you would spoil me from the moment I laid eyes on this place. I can't believe you remembered our first conversation we had here! The day I moved in, and I said 'Gosh this place smells like good food' to myself I thought, but then you yelled from your room 'That's because it has good food!' in your very matter-of-fact kind of way-" Faramund settled himself into his own armchair with a chuckle, "You looked like you had not experienced the magic of a good dish in your whole life! The first time I saw you walking down that hallway carrying all those boxes, I couldn't help but enlighten you a bit so that's why I asked what your favourite dish was." The man was visibly proud of himself for his vivid perception and achievement, as he twirled his fork around a clump of tomato pasta and slurped it up with a grin. "Gross." Jael made a sour face at Faramund's poor table manner. "But anyway, thank you for remembering good sir that-" She looked down at her full plate lovingly, "-tomato fettucine pasta is my comfort food." The girl placed a hand on her heart and nodded her head to him dramatically before diving into the food.
Faramund's gaze stayed on her a moment before doing the same.
"So, I've chosen a special tale tonight. I think you'll enjoy it the most." The night breeze outside his glass balcony door seemed to whisper something but Jael took no notice. "Oh yeah? Where's the story from this time?" He dabbled at his food a few more times before putting a handful in his mouth, "It's an old tragic from China, based around the time of the Northern Qi dynasty." Jael's faced lit up as she squealed with food still in her mouth, "WOOHOO You so totally know be by now, although, I have to admit the one on Boudicca of the Celts last week was prettyyy good, might be hard to beat. That being said, you sir, are exploiting my weakness!" Indeed, Ancient History was her favourite subject in High School. While most other students were more interested in their overall grades, Jael couldn't care less about Maths and Physics, it was all in for Ancient History. And she always incurred the wrath of the nerds whenever she surpassed them in every assessment, every quiz, every exam in the subject. They couldn't understand how one was so embarrassingly terrible in everything else, but a genius when it came to History. Faramund gave a big belly laugh as he started gobbling up the last of his pasta. How he ate so much so fast always baffled Jael. "It's your welcoming gift for officially moving in, I hope my storytelling skills are worthy of the words milady." He gestured a funny nod of the head as he ate.
"I'm sure it'll be wonderful," she put down her almost-empty plate, "I'm riled up now, I want to get started early." Jael tied her curly mane of copper hair into a loose low-lying bun, a habit for when she was concentrating. However, few of the shorter, curly strands never seemed to make it to the bun and fell around the circumference of her face. When she was done Jael raised her chin in expectation, and Faramund gave her the most loving expression she'd seen to date. "Alright, alright missy, I'll get some tea to accompany us on our journey tonight." The girl noticed that Faramund's grey eyes really did seem to sparkle beautifully tonight. She'd never quite noticed it before, but their colour was astounding. He trudged back into the kitchen making the floorboards groan under his leather boots, which were muddier than usual, and she heard the sound of the kettle pouring water into two mugs. At this point Jael turned her phone off completely, not that she got many notifications from people, but she didn't want to take the risk. These moments were slowly becoming her most cherished, and it was very annoying if a ping sounded in the middle of a story. Particularly to Faramund who would always chime in with a "Those blasted devices will be the death of me one day," anytime it happened.
Jael placed the device on the rug under her armchair and settled back in. "Here we are, a new concoction I've created just for you missy, I hope you like it." She laced her fingers around the warm mug and blowed on the steam coming out, her nose twitching at the smell. "What's this called?"
"The usual, Chamomile, but just with a little something extra for us tonight." It certainly didn't smell like the regular chamomile tea that he normally served her on cold nights, possible a hint of peppermint, but Jael was always open for discoveries. "Thank you good sir," she loved playing with her posh English accent around him, "I'll pop the rest of my dinner in a container later on if you don't mind and have it for lunch tomorrow. It was to die for." The girl grinned so hard at the warmth of her tea that her eyes seemed to disappear. But Faramund's shoulders dropped ever so slightly as he responded, "As you wish my girl."
Jael simply lifted the steaming mug to her lips and sipped it ever so slightly. Adjusting her knees, she made sure she was in the perfect curled position for comfort and a long reading "I'm ready for the adventure Faramund. Go ahead." This was her favourite part, the beginning of his stories. He always changed his expression from his daily carefree pretence to one of profound deep meaning and importance.
Faramund took a sip of his tea, cleared his throat, and leaned back in his chair. "A very long time ago, in a land of giant mountains, green fields and wide seas, where the sky was so big that it stretched over and past every horizon, there lived an Emperor and his four sons. Now the Emperor was only new to his heaven-gifted position and his Kingdom was still young and was therefore still fragile. He was known as Emperor Wenxiang, but his family knew him as Gao Cheng." Jael leaned her head on the head of the armchair as she listened intently, her mind filled with images of those mountains Faramund spoke of, "And of his four sons, his fourth, Gao Chang Gong, was to be the most handsome and blessed of all. It is said that he was so handsome, that in order to intimidate on the battlefield he had to wear a terrifying mask to scare off his enemies."
Jael scoffed, "He sounds pretentious already, a bit like someone I know-"
"Shush!" The girl quickly took another gulp of her tea and nodded her head rapidly in obedience, Faramund cleared his throat again and stared into the air, like he could see the whole thing playing out before him. "Where was I? Ah yes, Gao Cheng Gong's mask. It is said that it was so terrifying that in some of his early battles none of the soldiers in the war camp knew who he was until he unsheathed his sword and started fighting. His skills were unmatched at such an early age, and there was no one who could compete. His elder brothers too, were all quite handsome, each with a different skillset to offer their father. With this being the case, their family was under constant threat of assassination, particularly from schemers in their own court, their own family. You see, the courts in Ancient China had many rules, but the wicked ones always used those rules to their own advantage, often catching their prey in a trap of the law, and if that didn't succeed, mercenaries were quite commonly used. Emperor Wenxiang's own brother was one said schemer. Always eyeing the throne but never moving until he was ready."
Jael's eyes drooped a bit, but it was getting so good, she didn't want to miss a thing.
"It was a momentarily peaceful time for Northern Qi, I should know I was ther-" Jael didn't quite catch that last part, and she wanted to hear more of the story but as she took a third sip of her tea, it became harder to concentrate. She was likely overtired from her shift at the medical centre today. But she really didn't want to miss this story, for some reason it sounded so...
"A-hem, hmm hmm. I mean, it was peaceful at this point in time… momentarily. Since little did the Gao family know, that their world would soon be turned upside down." The room was now spinning. Jael blinked hard a few times, but felt the weight of sleep coming on, gosh she was just so... tired. She really could just curl up in a ball right now and slowly... close... her eyes.
The voice of Faramund's narration seemed to fade into the distance as the last light of the candle-lit room seemed to disappear into nothing. The girl knew she was safe here though. Faramund would just carry her to her room when he was finished, like he had done when she had fallen asleep many times before. She was safe here, where it was warm.
She was safe here.
The abyss of slumber engulfed her.
***
A frigid wind nipped at her face as Jael's consciousness came back to her, and a bright light pierced at her closed eyelids.
Gosh what time was it? How long had she slept?
Surely Faramund would've woken her before her shift starte-
"你是谁!" What? Who was yelling at her at this ungodly time of day? The girl blinked opened her eyes at the sound, and her heartbeat began to pound at the site she saw. Senses came back to her body, and she felt her palms hold pressure on the freezing hard ground beneath her, her knees were in the same curled position she last remembered. But instead of being in Faramund's warm armchair, she was lying on the solid form of cement steps. That's when she noticed, Faramund's large leather jacket draped around her shoulders.
She had to be lucid dreaming.
Jael lifted her head cautiously to find the owner of the voice that had bellowed at her. What she found was two long halberds pointed at her head, held by men with a terror on their faces she'd never seen before.
She shuffled up a step slowly, and the men pushed forward with her. "我说你是谁!"
For the first time in Jael's life, words escaped her. She wished Faramund was in this dream, he'd tell her what to do. Too frightened to move her head without losing it, she peered behind the men, dressed in some form of armour, only to find herself in a large open courtyard. Red wooden columns, grey cemented tiles and what seemed to be a double-door exit about two hundred metres in front of her. From what she could see, these two men were the only ones around.
She thought.
And thought for a second more. "我说你是谁!"
Jael moved. With a trick she'd taught herself as a child, she kicked both men's inner knee joint with a force she didn't know she had and watched them go tumbling to the ground. And the girl ran. She ran like she'd never run before. In her bed socks with blue whales on them the girl gripped the jacket around her shoulders and sprinted to the doors she could see at the end of the courtyard. She had to find Faramund, he could explain this lucid dreaming to her. If it was a lucid dream then surely she could summon him. But the smell of the metal on those halberd's smelled too much like real blood.
Something strange was definitely in that tea... surely not peppermint. Shouting in the background got louder behind her, but the doors were so close, and that was... oh gosh... more men at the gate. She definitely didn't see them before.
Jael's legs carried her despite the harshness of the ground she sprinted on, but she was now running head on into not two but four more halberds! Oh Faramund was going to have some big explaining to do when she woke up, when she said she wanted to go to China she didn't mean – a sharp pain pierced her shoulder as metal met skin, tearing through the leather jacket and t-shirt she still wore. Was she supposed to be feeling pain in a dream! Her knees screamed in answer as she fell to the frigid ground beneath her and felt a warm trickle slither down her back. Now that, was a feeling she was familiar with, her own blood. The girl twisted her gaze to whatever was behind her. Those two men again.
They caught up fast. The one who had been yelling at her held his weapon closer to her face and the scent of the deep red metallic liquid on the end of it filled Jael's nostrils. Now, on the ground again, she turned back to where her exit was. The four more men with halberds stood between her and it. This was not a fight she was going to win. So she again faced the first two men, raising an eyebrow.
"站起来.现在!" Any attempt at a conversation would be pointless here, so she simply shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, fists firmly squeezed around the leather jacket that was her only security.
At this response, the two men glanced at each other and reached down at her, gripping her upper arms so tightly, one on either side of her. They had one heck of a grip. Jael heard the footsteps of two of the men behind her follow suit, their weapons at the ready. She would not try to outrun them this time.
No, instead she just took in her surroundings, where were they taking her? Back in the direction she came it appeared, as the five of them walked in suit towards what looked to be a long set of stairs, and at the top.... a palace.
Jael was in a palace courtyard, in China. Why here? The grips on her arms tightened as she tried to get a better look around her. There was no English signage here at all, it was all Mandarin, she should've paid more attention in language class. But there was one sign she recognised vaguely, right at the top of the entrance door to the palace. Where they seemed to be taking her right now.
Getting closer and closer as they climbed the steps she had just woken up on, Jael squinted at the characters to try her best at locating herself.
It was... she squinted harder... it was...
Those were the characters of the palace photo on her wall! She was, somehow, at the palace she'd been staring at for three years. Faramund had never been in her room before, how could he possibly have known that she-
One of the men behind her now shoved her forward as they reached the palace doors. Oh they were going in? She should really just come back to this dream when she could speak the language, there was no point when she couldn't do anything. The cut in her shoulder started throbbing to its own beat, and Jael glanced back at the exit doors on the other side of the of the palace courtyard, before her head was thrusted forward again, harder this time, and the large wooden doors started to groan open.
She took a deep breath as they entered.